camillepearl23@gmail.com Making your wedding website can be one of the most fun things to do while planning your wedding! You’ll want to make it around 6 months out from your wedding date (see Order of Planning a Wedding), but I, like some brides, couldn’t wait and made mine as soon as we had our date and venue. In this post we’ll discuss why you need a wedding website, what to look for in a wedding website, what to include on your wedding website, and the best wedding websites.
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Why You Need a Wedding Website
People, this is 2021 and everything is online, so why shouldn’t your wedding info for your guests be? A wedding website is a great place to share all your wedding information and it can also be used for guests to RSVP. This can save you so much paper and stamp money! Plus, it’s a cute way to share your wedding and your story with your friends and family. In Covid times, it’s also a great place to announce a virtual ceremony if you are choosing to do that.
What To Look For in a Wedding Website
Customizable
A good wedding website will have a lot of different templates to choose from so you can find one that fits you and your partner’s style.
Drag and Drop Capability
Unless you’re good at coding and other website stuff (obviously I am not), then you’ll want your website to be easy for you to create and customize. The easiest way to do this is to just drag and drop certain things on to your website.
Includes Digital Invites and RSVPs
Save yourself paper and hassle with a wedding website that includes a way to send digital invites and receive RSVPs. If you are into paper invitations, be sure to check out Picky Bride, Evermine, and Tavern Creative for my favorite wedding invitations!
Ability to Communicate with Guests
Unfortunately due to Covid, many weddings and plans had to be changed. A good wedding website will have the ability to send out a message to your guests to let them know of the changes. Check out my editable “Change of Plans” cards as well.
Ability to Integrate Registry
You want to make it as easy as possible for guests to find your wedding registry, so you should definitely include a link on your wedding website. I HIGHLY recommend My Registry to combine all your registries from multiple stores into one easy place. It’s completely free and makes everything easy for you and your guests! If you’d like to start a honeymoon fund as part of your registry, make an account on Honeyfund for free and include this link for your guests.
Ability to Integrate Travel, Accommodation, and Maps
Make it easy for your guests to book their hotel room, plane tickets and more right from your wedding website. You should also include local directions of how to get to your venue from the airport and hotel.
What To Include on Your Wedding Website
Here’s a list of the essential items you must include on your wedding website to be most effective and helpful for your wedding guests.
Your Names
Your Story
Wedding Info (Date, Location, and Time)
Place to RSVP
Pictures
Accommodation and Travel Info
Introduction of Wedding Party
Registry
Other Things To Do in the Area
Best Wedding Websites
In no particular order, here are the best and most popular wedding websites to use! To help you narrow down your options, I’ve included some pros and cons to consider. It should be noted that I found this information from these websites. This is the information they are choosing to put out there about why you should pick their site to make your wedding website on.
Wedsites
Pros: Drag and drop; make a timeline of events for your guests to follow; live stream your wedding; gift registry; online guestbook; visitor analytics; flexible templates
Cons: Must pay for your own hosting, collecting RSVPs, sending online invitations, and more “Standard” and “Pro” features
Weebly
Pros: Drag and drop; gift registry; great for couples who already know how to build a website
Cons: Few wedding website templates; must pay for your own hosting
Appy Couple
Pros: Use your template for website, save the dates, and invitations; gift registry; collect RSVPs and manage guest list; free app for guests
Cons: Must pay to create your website
The Knot
Pros: Tons of free templates; match your paper goods with your website; gift registry; manage and track RSVPs; communicate with guests through email or text; other cool features
Cons: Easiest to build on a computer rather than phone; must pay for own hosting (optional)
Zola
Pros: 250+ free website designs; drag and drop; guests can RSVP; gift registry; matching wedding paper
Cons: can’t host your own website – there is no paid option
Minted
Pros: 1,400+ website design options; gather RSVPs for multiple events (wedding, bridal shower, etc.)
Cons: Too many option designs; must pay for hosting and other premium features
Joy
Pros: Hundreds of free templates; can customize with code if desired; personalized schedules; create a guest FAQ page; gift registry
Cons: No priced plan to upgrade (as of when this post was published)
Wix
Pros: Different templates for different styles and/or desired features; simple; easy to make
Cons: Limited number of templates to choose from; not as customizable as other websites
Squarespace
Pros: Gift registry; custom domain (with an annual plan); templates to choose from
Cons: Only free for a limited time
As I said above, this was information that I gathered directly from each site. These are the pros they chose to feature and some websites were more clear about exactly what was included before you make a website.
What wedding website is perfect for you? Leave yours in the comments!
I’m not getting married anytime soon, but I really liked the templates on Wix.
If I may add, it would also be beneficial for the soon-to-be-married couple to secure a reliable car or limo service. May it be for the bridal car or for guest transfers, it will make the wedding day easier if tiny details like this are taken care of as early as the preparation stage.